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The impacts of invasive species on native plants, animals, and ecosystems are well documented (e.g., Mack et al. 2000, Mooney and Cleland 2001, Strauss et al. 2006). Invasive species compete with native species for resources, decrease forage quality, alter community structure and ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling and fire regimes, cause genetic hybridization, increase predation, cause mortality through disease and pest outbreaks, foul and clog waterways, and impact human health as well as economic well being. These threats are recognized in the NC WAP, which states that, "Non- native and invasive species introductions (both plant and animal) continue to pose a threat to native wildlife in North Carolina." In the future, the threat from invasive plants and animals may increase. Climate change and changes in atmospheric CO2 have been found to benefit some invasive species, potentially leading to further increases the number and types of invasive species present in different ecosystems (Dukes and Mooney 1999). Climate changes can benefit invasive species if those changes facilitate increased success at any stage of their life cycle. To become successfully invasive in a new region and spread across the landscape, non- native species must pass through a variety of environ- mental filters at different temporal and spatial scales (Theoharides and Dukes 2007). Success at each of these stages depends on a distinct set of mechanisms, some of which are likely to be affected by climate change (Rahel and Olden 2008). The stages of inva- sion include species transport, colonization, estab- lishment, and landscape spread (Figure 4 -18). To enter a new region, an invasive species must first be transported over long distances and natural barriers, usually as a result of anthropogenic activities. Upon arrival to a new location, local environmental condi- tions, resource availability, biotic interactions and demographic processes control whether a species colonizes and establishes in the new community. Invasive species that are more successful in estab- lishing and becoming abundant in a community will likely have the largest ecological impact on that community. Landscape spread occurs as invasive species establish in new locations. Hellman et al. (2008) outline five potential conse- quences of climate change for invasive species. These include (1) changes to mechanisms of transport and introduction, (2) altered climatic constraints on invasive species, (3) shifts in distribution of existing invasive species, (4) changes in the impact of exist- ing invasive species on the system, and (5) altered effectiveness of management strategies for control- ling invasive species. Changes affecting transport and introduction will pose direct consequence to the first stage in the invasion pathway, whereas changes to climatic constraints can directly impact process- es regulating colonization, establishment, and /or spread. Effects on distribution, impact, and manage- ment strategies may then emerge from climate - induced changes to establishment and /or spread. Human -aided movement of plants and animals, both accidental and deliberate, has increased dramatically in the last 500 years, and especially the last two centu- ries, with increasing human transport and commerce (Mack et al. 2000). Climate change could increase opportunities for invasions of non - native species across the globe by opening up new travel routes and destinations. For example, thinning of the Arctic sea ice could lead to open summer waterways and a longer shipping season by the year 2040, potentially leading to an increase in introductions of non - native species (Dyke et al. 2008). Tourism and commerce may also shift as patterns for recreation and regional use become altered by climate change. Increases in the frequency of extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes or changes in weather patterns could facilitate the dispersal and introduction of invasive species to areas that were previously less exposed to introduction events (Hellmann et al. 2008).